Content:

(PaPaPa, OOO, RoRo, PCPC, Ho, C, L, VV, S, N, MMM) Very strong mixed pagan worldview with very strong pro-occult content, including witchcraft, witch paraphernalia, vampire emphasis, zombies, main character speaks with the dead, plus strong Romantic political correctness against bullying and intolerance of people who are different, and homosexual content where boy tells girl at the end that he has a boyfriend, plus some light but undeveloped redemptive content including forgiveness extolled and some indication of a positive afterlife but set in a stereotypical occult movie world; two obscenities, three profanities, scatological commentary about urinating and ghost comes out of toilet, among other crude content; strong violence includes men and women shoot at the zombies, parts fall off zombie bodies, dead man falls on boy, and scary witch strikes main character with electricity and creates wooden spikes; no sex scenes but immoral homosexual joke where one boy says he has a boyfriend; upper male nudity with man in towel, scantily clad girl, animated characters with curvy bodies; no alcohol; no smoking or drug use; and, children don’t listen to their parents, parents seen with little intelligence, preteen boy watches violent movies, adults seen as not intelligent.

Summary:

In the animated movie PARANORMAN, an 11-year-old boy who sees and talks with the dead has to save the town from zombies and an evil witch. PARANORMAN honors a dark supernatural world and the occult with a low budget stop-motion animation geared toward preteen children.

Review:

Norman Babcock, an 11-year-old boy who sees and talks with the dead, has to save the town in the animated movie PARANORMAN. PARANORMAN honors the dark supernatural world and the occult with a low quality budget geared toward preteen children. Norman is thought of as strange. In fact, the whole town rejects him because he talks to dead people. To Norman, the dead seem so real, including his Grandmother who speaks with him often and gives him advice. Just as Norman is teased by the middle school bully, Alvin, Neil is also teased for being overweight. Building a friendship, Norman and Neil start to connect. This doesn’t stop Norman from going into visions of dark worlds and seeing ghosts. One night Norman’s parents are out of the house, and his older sister, Courtney, is supposed to be watching him. Norman’s dead uncle, Mr. Prenderghast, directs him to speak to the town witch and stop her from destroying the town. Going to the wrong grave, Norman lets zombies out, and they start to haunt the town. Picking up Alvin the bully along the way, his sister, Neil, and Neil’s brother, the group has to figure out how to stop the zombies from plaguing the city and stop the witch from completely destroying it. PARANORMAN has an underline message that it’s OK to be different, even if that deals with talking to the dead. The one thing looked down upon is anger, putting pain upon people, and being unforgiving. Otherwise, however, the dark occult world is seen as OK to tamper with and to embrace. MOVIEGUIDE® highly cautions children from going to PARANORMAN, not just because the movie is scary but because of the pro-occult content. PARANORMAN is done in stop-motion animation. The quality itself is not the best. It feels low budget, and the storyline is exceptionally politically correct. There are many cautionary elements in PARANORMAN for children, including very scary scenes, crude commentary, rebellious children, and tampering with the occult. The movie also shows parents in a negative light. Of course, according to the Bible, witchcraft and talking to dead people are signs of rebellion against God, so there’s a sort of evil logic to the movie’s negative depiction of parents.

In Brief:

PARANORMAN is an animated movie. Norman, an 11-year-old boy, is thought of as strange. In fact, the whole town rejects him because he talks to dead people. To Norman, the dead seem so real, including his Grandmother who speaks with him often and gives him advice. One night, Norman’s dead uncle tells him to speak to the town witch and stop her from destroying the town. Along the way, some zombies are unleashed. The stop-motion animation PARANORMAN isn’t the best. It feels low budget. Also, the storyline is politically correct. Thus, PARANORMAN has an underlying message that it’s OK to be different, even if you talk with dead people. The things looked down upon are anger and causing people pain. Otherwise, the occult world is seen as OK to tamper with and embrace. There are many objectionable elements in PARANORMAN. They include very scary scenes, crude commentary, rebellious children, and tampering with the occult. Finally, parents are seen in a negative light. Consequently, there’s a very strong spirit of rebellion in PARANORMAN.